Oa Na Mba

Product Notes

This album is Patrick Bebey's personal tribute to his father Francis Bebey. It was to be a son's present to a father in his lifetime, but the sudden disappearance of Francis on May 28th 2001 caught all by surprise. Patrick's heart was no longer in the album. The project was put aside for 3 years... But later it became a kind of catharsis, closing a period of mourning of a son for his father. Throughout the album, Patrick Bebey, takes an original course where his experience as an accomplished musician blossoms. Music was in father and son: it gained in depth with the strength of mourning and memory. Patrick will tell us that 'Bebey' is the concept of the album ! "Some pieces are my father's. In his last years, he sometimes called me : 'come over, I've written something for you !'... From 1998 to 2001, we did many performances together, him and I. And he always used to say : 'I'm giving you everything, it's important that someone should continue when I go'. So I made the most of all the time spent with him'. All the 'Bebey' instruments are here: the magic tones of the Sanza and the pygmy flute sing out like a cry from the heart of the forest. Hear the natural beauty in their freedom.... The percussion tells the story of the village, bringing forth images, tastes, perfumes of the Douala language. Patrick reveals himself in the arrangements and in the magnificent orchestration. Unlike his father - who did everything himself - close friends, his musical companions, accompany the son in his musical adventure. 'I met the bass player Marc Bertaux, when he worked with Tania Maria, 25 years ago' says Patrick. "I've worked with Luis Augusto Cavani, the Brazilian drummer, for 23 years. One of the two percussionists on the album is Moussa Cissoko, whom I met 20 years ago with Mory Kante. ' Following in the footsteps of his father with whom he played since he was 17, Patrick Bebey is a pianist esteemed by international African stars. Early in 2006, he helped set up Papa Wemba's new international group after participating in the 'Molokai' adventure between 1995 and 2002. From 1997 to 2001 he toured international world stages with Miriam Makeba and many other talented musicians and groups have drawn on his talent. But this album is a turning point in his story. It evolved over time and marks a new direction taken in the Bebey musical genealogy: here is music in which reflection and sensation rhyme with emotion.

This album is Patrick Bebey's personal tribute to his father Francis Bebey. It was to be a son's present to a father in his lifetime, but the sudden disappearance of Francis on May 28th 2001 caught all by surprise. Patrick's heart was no longer in the album. The project was put aside for 3 years... But later it became a kind of catharsis, closing a period of mourning of a son for his father. Throughout the album, Patrick Bebey, takes an original course where his experience as an accomplished musician blossoms. Music was in father and son: it gained in depth with the strength of mourning and memory. Patrick will tell us that 'Bebey' is the concept of the album ! "Some pieces are my father's. In his last years, he sometimes called me : 'come over, I've written something for you !'... From 1998 to 2001, we did many performances together, him and I. And he always used to say : 'I'm giving you everything, it's important that someone should continue when I go'. So I made the most of all the time spent with him'. All the 'Bebey' instruments are here: the magic tones of the Sanza and the pygmy flute sing out like a cry from the heart of the forest. Hear the natural beauty in their freedom.... The percussion tells the story of the village, bringing forth images, tastes, perfumes of the Douala language. Patrick reveals himself in the arrangements and in the magnificent orchestration. Unlike his father - who did everything himself - close friends, his musical companions, accompany the son in his musical adventure. 'I met the bass player Marc Bertaux, when he worked with Tania Maria, 25 years ago' says Patrick. "I've worked with Luis Augusto Cavani, the Brazilian drummer, for 23 years. One of the two percussionists on the album is Moussa Cissoko, whom I met 20 years ago with Mory Kante. ' Following in the footsteps of his father with whom he played since he was 17, Patrick Bebey is a pianist esteemed by international African stars. Early in 2006, he helped set up Papa Wemba's new international group after participating in the 'Molokai' adventure between 1995 and 2002. From 1997 to 2001 he toured international world stages with Miriam Makeba and many other talented musicians and groups have drawn on his talent. But this album is a turning point in his story. It evolved over time and marks a new direction taken in the Bebey musical genealogy: here is music in which reflection and sensation rhyme with emotion.